LONDON – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is creating a standalone science, innovation and technology department as part of a wider expansion of UK government ministries.
Michelle Donnellan, who previously led the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has been appointed Secretary of State to the new science and tech-focused ministry. DCMS loses its digital brief to focus on culture, media and sport, with Lucy Fraser taking charge of the slimmed down department.
Sunak, a former hedge fund manager, has close ties to the tech sector. Her father-in-law Narayana Murthy was the founder of the Indian IT services giant Infosys, and Sunak spent time in Silicon Valley while living in California.
The new digital department comes at an important time for British tech policy, with the government’s flagship Online Safety Bill making its way through the UK Parliament, and Growing concern over delay For a long-awaited semiconductor strategy.
The new set-up is already being welcomed by some tech lobby groups. “The creation of the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology bodes well for British tech startups,” said Dom Hallas of trade body COADEC. BEIS makes real sense with the digital policy making experience of DCMS.”
On the science front, Britain’s participation in EU programs such as the Horizon Europe research and development framework and the Copernicus Earth satellite observation scheme remains up in the air amid an ongoing dispute over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.
Sunak’s shake-up has seen Trade Minister Greg Hands move to become chairman of the Conservative Party, while the business and trade departments are being merged and a dedicated energy ministry is being set up.